Instead of Foodstamps, hows about Bitcoins? - page 2.

cryptasm

legendary

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Gamdom.com

Quote from: Johnny Bitcoinseed on February 17, 2014, 12:27:20 PM

...Food Stamps is not donated by any stretch of the imagination - it is coerced from the productive workers and businesses under threat of force (fines, imprisonment, all all that sort of violent stuff). Resist and they come looking for you, resist more and they will kill you...

You've got it twisted, if employers paid their workers a living wage there would be no need for foodstamps.

bitcoinmiami

member

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BTC price volatility will act as a deterrent to such implementation at this point in time. Also, the gov wants people using food stamps for food only. Recipients of BTC as a means of a "food stamp" will be able to easily sell their btc for cash. A colored btc may be able to solve that though..

Johnny Bitcoinseed

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Johnny Bitcoinseed

Quote from: guybrushthreepwood on February 17, 2014, 08:24:58 AM

I think this is impractical for many reasons. Most places don't accept Bitcoin yet and good luck finding someone who will donate the coins required for this.

Well don't forget, the money .Gov spends for Food Stamps is not donated by any stretch of the imagination - it is coerced from the productive workers and businesses under threat of force (fines, imprisonment, all all that sort of violent stuff). Resist and they come looking for you, resist more and they will kill you.

Foodstamps and welfare are not charity, it is theft and violence pretending to be charity. Many people pay up only due to fear of being attacked if they do not comply. What kind of an evil system is that!

So if someone wants to donate their bitcoins for charity, excellent, please do. The danger lay in good Samaritans taking it upon themselves to force everyone to do so in some way. When that happens, it is no longer charity but simply evil.

This Robin Hoodesq technique of wealth re-distribution is soooo twentieth century.

lunas

member

Activity: 68

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do you really have a working knowledge of what a food stamp really is it is not just money...

A food stamp has many restrictions on what can and cant be bought with it

Foods for the household to eat, such as:
breads and cereals;
fruits and vegetables;
meats, fish and poultry; and
dairy products.
Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

for more on what can and can't be bought with food stamps here is a link to the page detailing as such
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items

Against Hunger

newbie

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If you want to partner on this and work on raising money to supply food for the poor and distribute via these coin stamps. There is a similar thread that I need to do the food stamp idea on here. It has morphed from plastic cards to books of BIP32/BIP38 paper wallets but I think there are a lot of synergies here.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.5199901

Peter
http://www.againsthunger.org

BigV

newbie

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Food stamps are done by grants to states. Each state administers their own systems of redemption. It is handled through a credit card system and merchants are responsible for ensuring that the credit is used for eligible food items.

The funds used for those are like credit cards in that they are dollars made up out of thin air. Any credits not used just simply disappear.

With bitcoin those funds would have to exist in an escrow so that any credits not used would return to the pool. So instead of a card holding a specified amount of btc that it would be authorized to draw a specified amount from the pool. That part is manageable in software.

Currently the national budget for food stamps, actually called SNAP btw. is pushing 100 billion. The exchange rate for the existing 12 million btc would have to skyrocket just cover snap.

As bitcoin grows in usage with merchants the exchange rate naturally align itself. Using the force of Government to mainstream BTC would be the kiss of death.

instructor2121

newbie

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Start off as a small community project, I see some potential for this.

NikoInc

member

Activity: 80

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I think this a great idea. I also have a similar idea, can't say it here because it's my baby project but
I think a coin should almost be created just for this purpose.
Need help let me know.

cr1776

legendary

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Go ahead - and give us updates on your project. But the governments of th world don't like private charities like this because they are much more efficient in general and make the governments look bad.

guybrushthreepwood

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I think this is impractical for many reasons. Most places don't accept Bitcoin yet and good luck finding someone who will donate the coins required for this.

snakus44

newbie

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Imagine if the Bitcoin community took on a project to replace, or at least supliment foodstamps and/or possibly other social programs. The fed gov would get some budget relief and possibly be less suspect of the new technology. Bitcoin and other cypto's will reach the peak of their practical use once your local grocery store accepts them. And that's what we want right, Bitcoins used as currency? Plus, it would be some good press for once, all the while helping people. I bet if implemented in just one area in the USA, Bitcoins will go from a neighborhood name to a household one. The average person doesn't want the full explanation of how bitcoins are mined or what they really are, just the same as they don't want to hear about economics to use a buck for the dollar menu. If you tell them, "Here is your bitcoin foodcard for the month, use it to buy food", they will use it. I couldn't tell you how to make sure they only buy food though. But I guess their transactions would be accessable on the block chain, so it would have to match up with one of the grocery store's public keys. Any thoughts?

Topic: Instead of Foodstamps, hows about Bitcoins? - page 2. (Read 2037 times)